From Signatures to Proofs: A New Blockchain Approach

UPDATE July 20, 2026 So Specter got archived after its prototype revealed serious flaws in its architecture. The original post below is kept here as a reminder of its history. They've started over from square one, rebranding it as ParanO(1)d. More deets here if you're interested.

March 2026 Been working on something wild, a design that ditches signatures from the Bitcoin model and tackles post-quantum issues.

Lol, did the author copy Mimblewimble's style or what? I mean, check this out: SPECTER Ignotus Nemo Version 1.0 March 23, 2026 Versus: MIMBLEWIMBLE Tom Elvis Jedusor July 19, 2016 Totally feels like a throwback.

Yeah, the homage is clear. Mimblewimble paved the way for anonymous proposals. "Ignotus Nemo" seems to be tapping into that legacy.

True, there are some projects using the term Spectre. But the spelling is off, so I don’t think it’s a huge deal... could be revisited later.

Also, RandomX is a bit of a beast. Slower and more complex than straightforward hash-based proof of work. But it’s all about tackling ASIC dominance, right?

But doesn’t that just end up being kind of messy? Like, higher verification cost with RandomX just adds to node strain during synchronization. Ain't that counterproductive?

Couldn’t they use aggregated proofs for PoW instead? Like, just tweak the aggregated proof to go for the hash. Also, what about a cumulative approach to streamline the whole chain?

Nice point. I’m on board with the cumulative validity idea. But I’m kind of cautious about using proof as PoW. It complicates the whole mining process and might invite centralization.

We’ve got the Specter 2.0 whitepaper now! Big structural changes, not just tweaks. Introduces epoch certificates that compress block proofs into a single validity chain tied to PoW.

Just built a tiny prototype called "specter-min". No signatures at all. No public keys. Nothing. Just trying to see if we can ditch traditional methods completely.

Development updates: We've done a lot: - Defined transaction and witness schemas - Benchmarked proving and verifying costs - Brought Poseidon 2 to life - Achieved witness-free verification It’s getting exciting!

Final update: Specter confirmed that transaction authorization can exist without public keys and signatures... but just removing signatures isn’t the sole solution. The surrounding architecture didn’t scale as expected, so it got archived.